This beautiful Gibson Byrdland is almost
40 years old and has managed to remain virtually unchanged from its original
state. This guitar plays and sounds as smooth and creamy as butter . The 23 1/2
scale makes even the most daunting finger stretches a piece of cake. The
humbucker pickups actually have a closer pole-piece spacing then the standard
Les Paul humbuckers. The string spread remains fairly parallel due to the
shorter scale neck and so closer spacing were required. This guitar features all
of the adornments of an Gibson L5 included solid carved front, back and sides.
The thinner body depth and shorter scale make for a really comfortable fit
though and were very deliberate details from Billy Byrd and Hank Garland. Both
are attributed to the design of this model and the name Byrdland is derived from
combining their names. The Byrdland was Gibson's first thin-line model and was
quite the innovation in 1957 and originally had a Venetian cutaway. In 1961 and
through 1968 the Byrdland cutaway was changed to the sharp Florentine cutaway that this guitar
sports. Additionally and unique to the Byrdland model is the triple-loop tubular
tailpiece with "Byrdland" engraved on the crosspiece. Also the fretboard has the
usual dot markers on both sides suggesting that left handed necks were mildly
retooled right handed necks. It is hard to see in the picture below but the
pickguard is tortoise grained with binding not the usual black three ply
plastic. Cool.

The front view of the Headstock shows the
same flaming chalice inlay as the Gibson L-5. This Byrdland truss rod cover
clearly indicates that not all parts were made in a left handed version. Hence
the upside down "Byrdland" engraving. The Kluson Sealfast tuners on this
Byrdland are the same tuners featured on the original Byrdland when it debut in
1957.

2003 Gibson Custom Historic ES-135

This beautiful factory left handed ES-135
is the only lefty 135 I have ever seen. I bought this at
Elderly
Instrumentswebsite after being tipped off by a friend. While
it was priced higher than the many right handed models for sale, there were some
things to consider. First it being a lefty (which I'm) makes this model very
hard to find. Secondly it is not a factory run but rather is hand built by
Gibson's Custom, Art & Historic Division (aka Custom shop). It came with a
signed Gibson certificate stating so. Lastly, even the right-handed models are
rarely seen with factory Bigsby and P90 pickups let alone the bound neck this
beauty sports. There is of course the Gibson SwingMaster which in my humble
opinion is a bit over the top. With the goofy factory pin-up decal (actually a
real photo of a woman rather than a cool pinup artist's rendition) and gaudy
headstock "SwingMaster" tag, even if a left-handed SwingMaster could be found it
wouldn't be my bag. Also while the ES-135 is not a carved top there is something
to be said about the beautiful tiger grain of this guitar though the
SwingMasters do come in some very cool colors. Anyway be sure to scroll all the way
down for info on my two failed attempts at actually ordering a custom shop
Gibson and why this sweetheart will do just fine.

2004 Gibson Les Paul Custom

This is a Gibson Custom Shop Left
handed Les Paul I bought "pre-owned". It is a dream and there isn't much more to
add.

1974 Gibson SG Special

The cool thing about this factory axe is the stock Gibson vibrato, in lefty!
(see insert). Also cool and unique to my collection is the stock Gibson
mini-humbuckers. Brighter and more biting than their full sized siblings these
mini humbucker pickups have a very cool and useful tone.

1968 Gibson ES-330TD

Earlier versions of the ES-330 had the neck meet
the body at the 15th fret. This one has the full length ES-335 style neck
joining the body at 19th fret. Unlike the ES-335 this guitar is truly a hollow
body. The P90 pickups really sound great.

On the left is the 1968 ES-330TD. To the right again is the 1974 SG Special.

How to Order a Custom
Gibson Guitar....NOT!

I like Gibson guitars
and have attempted on a number of occasions (with no success) to order a
Custom guitar from Gibson through their authorized dealers. Here's what
Gibson's website says about "Ordering your Custom guitar" and I quote:

"Want an all black Explorer with triple-ply binding and
your name on the fingerboard? How about a metallic blue Les Paul with racing
stripes, open coil humbuckers, and a pearl flag on the headstock? All of that
and much, much more is available to you by custom ordering your guitar.

Just about anything you can dream up can be built by the
master craftsmen in our Pro Shop; here's how to order the guitar of your
dreams.

First, visit your local Authorized Gibson Custom dealer.
Your dealer will work with you to nail down the exact details of your custom
guitar and then relay that information to the Custom Shop. From there, Custom
will write up a spec sheet and quote with ETA for the guitar and return that
to the dealer. If everything is meets your approval, the dealer will sign off
on the order and fax the spec sheet back to the Custom Shop and work will
begin on your instrument. Finally, when the guitar has been completed, it will
ship to your dealer where you can pick it up.

So what are you waiting for? That special, one-of-a-kind
guitar you've always wanted is within your reach by placing your custom order
today!"

Well that sounded easy.
So off I went to the local Guitar Center (on
the authorized list of course!) to order a custom left handed Chet Atkins
Country Gentleman (below left). They seemed very interested and agreed to call me later in
the week. After a number of follow-up calls they never got back to me. Then I
called Jimmy at South
Paw Guitars and asked him what he thought. He told me flat out that
Gibson
just won't do it. He couldn't tell me why. Then I thought maybe I was being too
ambitious with the Country Gent. I saw the new ES-137 Custom (sans the Bigsby
and righty of course)
at Rudy's in NYC and thought maybe Gibson would consider making the ES-137 in a
left handed version. I took the liberty of mocking one up in Adobe to depict exactly how I wanted it. While out in Colorado I met some nice guys at a
Guitar shop called
Guitars etc. They mentioned that they were in pretty
well with Gibson and would gladly try to order me a guitar. I emailed them my
ES137 Custom mock-up photo (center). They seemed very interested and agreed to
get back to me. Months later.... nothing. How is it that Gibson just doesn't want my money?

Ok so I
never got my Chet Atkins Country Gentleman, nor did Gibson agree to build my
cool Bigsby equipped ES-137 Custom "mock-up" but somebody, somewhere got Gibson
to make this Historic Collection, natural finish, flamed top and back, bound
rosewood fretboard, dot inlays, 2 P-90 pickups, Bigsby equipped left handed
ES-135 (right picture above). This is said to be one of two lefty 135s built at
the Gibson Custom shop in 2003. It is also the only lefty ES-135 I've ever
seen. No wonder the price was considerably higher than any right handed ES-135
I've come across at shows, stores or on the web. The bound fretboard, lefty
factory Bigsby, P-90's and nicely flamed finish set this apart from the run of
the mill stock P-100 equipped right handed ES-135. Add to that the fact that it
is left handed and I was willing to take the plunge.